As scholars who have written or taught about the Holocaust or other genocides, we are deeply troubled by the impending imprisonment of an Austrian Jewish historian and journalist who exposed Austria’s failure to return Jewish property seized during the Nazi era.

The crime of which Mr. Templ has been convicted, and sentenced to one year in prison, was his omission of the name of an estranged relative from his application for the return of his family’s seized property. This matter could have been resolved by the Templ family in civil court. The Austrian government’s decision to intervene by prosecuting and jailing Mr. Templ will be seen as an extreme overreaction to Mr. Templ’s important book, Our Vienna: Aryanization Austrian-Style, which criticized Austria’s policy concerning the restitution of Jewish property.

Please convey to President Heinz Fischer our urgent request that he reconsider his rejection of Mr. Templ’s appeal against his prison sentence.

ABOUT THE WYMAN INSTITUTE: The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, located in Washington, D.C., is a research and education institute focusing on America’s response to the Holocaust. It is named in honor of the eminent historian and author of the 1984 best-seller The Abandonment of the Jews, the most important and influential book concerning the U.S. response to the Nazi genocide.

The Institute’s Advisory Committee includes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, Members of Congress, and other luminaries.

The Institute’s Academic Council includes more than fifty leading professors of the Holocaust, American history, and Jewish history.

Taken from Kurier, 19 September 2015. Convenience Summary Translation:

“Inheritance Crime Novel” ends with imprisonment for Prague-based journalist and notary being investigated by the prosecutor

On Monday Stephan Templ has to go to prison; it is an absurd crime story about inheritance which has led to criticism of Austria worldwide. Templ is going to prison for fraud but it is unclear who was damaged.

….

A Viennese notary searched for the dispersed heirs for a fee of one third of the sum awarded in the end. Some heirs he omitted and he notarised that a lineage had become extinct, even though he had been advised by a Berlin court that there were in fact legal successors.

Among the unnamed heirs were Templ’s mother and her sister. Templ found out about the restitution and applied on his own – without relying on the highly priced services of the notary – on behalf of his mum and received an entitlement of EUR 1.1 million. The existence of his aunt – with whom they are in a dispute – was omitted from the form. This may be morally reproachable. But Templ maintains that restitution is an act of mercy, not a right, and he therefore has no responsibility to do anything for other heirs. Speaking of mercy: a request for clemency for Templ has been rejected by the President.

Four years after expiry of the application deadline the notary advised the aunt that she would have been entitled. She reported her nephew to the police (and claimed her share in the property), Templ was convicted for fraud.

But: The aunt was never named as the damaged party by the criminal court. According to the verdict, the Republic was damaged. The Finanzprokuratur (the Attorney General) announced that the Republic did not suffer any damage.

Belatedly, the notary is now being scrutinised by the prosecutor, but this cannot save Templ.